Cacophony and Vijaya !!

Last night I came to Mumbai and the flight was delayed by an hour … Not Indigo, this time Jet Airways. I don’t like Jet Airways, the seats are always cramped and their onboard food is just terrible. I don’t eat it … And to think that for nearly two years I had been using Jet Airways all weekends to travel between Delhi and Bangalore. This was before the advent of Indigo and thanks to Mandeep for introducing me to Indigo. Inspite of the delays, their airplanes smell nicer, seats seem more spaced out and the onboard food stuff is atleast passable.

Ok this is not about the airlines. I came out of the aircraft and got a call from an unknown number. Knowing that an office cab would have been hired, I picked it up and a lady told me to call her as soon as I was outside. I thought it was the cab rental company’s help desk that was calling me :):). I called back as soon as I was out and she said, “walk ahead to the pickup point and I am coming over” … I still thought it was the help desk lady and asked her for the car number. She gave me the number and told me to look for a white Ertiga. I stood at the pick up point and the cacophony of horns started – for the first time, I was ready to just stand in the middle of the road and yell at all the drivers !! There were a few other passengers getting really upset with the constant honking of the cars and cabs. Travel with ear plugs and maybe put on your headphones as well – some people will lose their hearing, it was that bad. Am sure Mumbai can come up with a civilized way of handling this 🙁

I got a call from the lady again and was told she was there and asked me to look for an Ertiga driven by a lady driver …. Finally it dawned on me, (yes, duh !) that it was a lady cab driver. So I got into a very clean Ertiga, and Vijaya, the lady cab driver expertly navigated her way out of the melee and got me safely to the hotel. I did find out all details about her and will ensure she gets a lot of business from my organization – she drives well, is trying to open a new front of employment for women and the whole ride was so pleasant. There is an attempt being made to bring more women drivers by Priyadarshini cabs. These cabs are driven by women and are stationed at the airport. So hail one if you are a lady arriving in Mumbai and also a man who wants to help more women to become cab drivers. If you need details of Vijaya, please call on 9224273058 or 8976287588 and speak to Vijaya Rane. She needs more of us to help her settle down in this business and also pay her dues. She has two children, one in college and the other in school, an old mother that she is helping out.

I asked for her to drop me at the airport today and yes it was a very pleasant trip. Please help Vijaya and her kind to do well. Encourage by hiring their cabs. :):)